Case Number 22451

THE STOOL PIGEON (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

Opening Statement

From Hong Kong, a messy crime saga looking at the relationship between an
ambitious detective and his desperate informant. It's pretty good.

Facts of the Case

Nick Leung stars as Police Detective Don Lee, a cop who is renowned for his
handling of informants. His last "stool pigeon," however, ended up in
a bad way thanks to sideways call from Lee and it's been a year since he's
gotten back into the game.

But duty calls, as a local gangster is planning a big-time heist and the
force needs some human intel. So Lee recruits Ghost Jr. (Nicholas Tse), an
outlaw racer who's got some serious family issues. At first reluctant to sign up
as a snitch, Ghost Jr. is finally persuaded and ends up in the teeth of the gang
-- and it only goes downhill from there.

The Evidence

This is not a jam-packed actionfest import. The Stool Pigeon is more
along the lines of something like The Departed, or more appropriately
Infernal Affairs. This isn't quite up to the level of those two movies,
but I have no qualms about offering a hearty recommendation to fans of
hardboiled cop cinema.

Leung and Tse are the driving force behind the success of The Stool
Pigeon. Detective Lee is an interesting creation, a seemingly
ramrod-straight, by-the-books, law-and-order guy who clings to his informant
system as if it were Moneyball. He looks at his informants as a means to an end
and that's fascinating. In one scene, he's lecturing other cops about his
system, impressing upon them to make the informants "feel like you're their
friend," and not "be their friend." The cop/stoolie
relationship is a means to an end for Lee, a two-way avenue where both players
are exploiting each other. It's a flawed outlook, as the cheapening and
dehumanization of the informant becomes the main moral quandry tackled by the
film.

On the other side is Ghost Jr, whose saga isn't quite as nuanced and
penetrating as his counterpart's, but satisfying nonetheless. His is more of a
straight-arrow crime story, as he gets caught in various double-crosses within
the gangster hierarchy, leading to a number of death-defying encounters.

Though the runtime is heavily concentrated on the characters, there is some
action tossed in to spice things up. It's not glossy, high-octane stuff and
mainly consists of a couple car chases and a botched heist job. However, the
finale is engaging, a bloody, clumsy stab-a-thon in an abandoned school.

The Blu-ray delivers, providing a high-end 2.35:1/1080p treatment that
pushes sharp clarity and clean picture fidelity throughout. There's a DVD
version included as well, but opt for the sharp contrast of the HD. Sound: a
clean DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track (Cantonese) and a dubbed 2.0 stereo English
mix. Extras include deleted scenes, some making-of footage, and a hefty
behind-the-scene featurette.

Closing Statement

Well-executed and packing a punch, The Stool Pigeon is a winner. Crime
thriller types should give it a serious look.